


Scent of a Ghost

by microwavebubbles



Series: Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Meet-Cute, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, romance and pumpkin spice, short and fluffy, sweet stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29213808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/microwavebubbles/pseuds/microwavebubbles
Summary: Based of a prompt from mytumblrNothing romantic ever happened between Hotch and Prentiss. There was friendship, understanding but they were both so broken. Now it’s postseason 15 and they see each other for the first time in a few years. What happens?
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss
Series: Tumblr Prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2144901
Comments: 13
Kudos: 62





	Scent of a Ghost

She could have picked his cologne out of a line-up. Other men wearing it made her head jerk in a crowd, eyes searching until they found the suit she was looking for, the knotted tie at the throat of someone who was definitely _not_ Aaron Hotchner. She always tried to ignore the butterflies it gave her, deep in the pit of her stomach, weakly fluttering even years after he had left.

She didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. And that was the worst of it. Scratch was dead, gone and buried long ago and he had stayed vanished. A hurried explanation through an intermediary that he retired, spending time with Jack in a city they did not name, devoting himself finally to fatherhood.

Emily thought of Jack often. He would have just started high school, all gangly limbs and insecurity. She wondered if he had kept Hayley’s delicate features, or if his jaw had sharpened like his fathers, his hair darkened, finally becoming the miniature of his dad he once dressed up as for Halloween.

He had been a smart little boy, thirsty for knowledge and devouring books; she wondered if he had continued reading, or discarded it for sports, or kept both. She wondered if he was thinking about college yet, knowing that Aaron would be subtly nudging him towards the Ivy League.

She had trained herself to not react to it. It had been three years since Scratch had died, and nobody had heard from him since he came out of Witness Protection, even Dave’s wedding had not been enough to coax him from the life he had built for himself.

Standing in line, waiting for the coffee she desperately needed to start her morning she caught the finest thread of it in the morning air. The weather had just turned to decidedly autumn, most places beginning to put out decorations for Halloween, and the scent of pumpkin spice in the café was almost enough to drown anything else out.

But it was there, hiding beneath the caramels and tumerics and pumpkins. _Aaron_ was there. She forced herself to still, clenching a fist at her side as she stared determined at the menu, as though she didn’t appear here every morning, roughly the same time to get her double espresso and Americano with extra shot.

The baristas looked at her strangely the first time she had ordered it, watching her down the espresso before she left the café, sipping her black coffee as she walked out the door. In the months that followed they stopped giving her to go cups for the espresso, knowing she would gladly leave the delicate porcelain cups they served them in on the table by the door as she left. They often wondered what kind of job she must have, to have the equivalent of five coffees in her system in as many minutes.

She was so distracted by the thread of scent she didn’t realise she was next. Before she could open her mouth, her favourite barista was already sliding the drinks across the counter, smiling brightly.

“Morning Emily, saw you coming” She said, her smile impossibly bright for 7am “You alright? You look distracted.”

“Thanks Claudia, I’m fine, just a long day ahead” She said, grabbing greedily for the coffee before sliding her exact change across the counter, another bill into the tip jar.

“Well remember, we changed our opening hours last month, we’re here till midnight every day now.”

“I hope you’re not” Emily replied, startled.

“Oh no, just mornings for me, college in the afternoons” Claudia replied, her teeth flashing again impossibly white, her young face rounded and hopeful, full of promise and possibilities.

“I’ll keep it in mind, but I don’t think I’d get the same level of service from the night guys” Emily said, smiling with a wave as Claudia turned to her next customer.

As she neared the exit she smelt it again, stronger now as she finished the espresso, setting it on the counter before she opened the door to the cool morning air. She swivelled her head once and spotted the only candidate it could be, the only male patron in the café filled with mums and babies enjoying the morning. She sighed as she quickly assessed his form. Burgundy cardigan, hair greying at the temples, his back to her as he wrote in a notebook. He was sequestered in the corner, soft huge armchair with an empty plate in front of him. _Not him_ she thought, the oversized clothing a dead giveaway.

She left the café with a shake of her head and a smile, wondering if the backflips in her stomach would ever lessen.

Another long day of paperwork left her with a headache. She downed Tylenol like it was candy, stopping herself from reaching for the emergency scotch she kept hidden in the bottom drawer. She felt off kilter, like she was coming down with a cold, everything slightly fuzzy around the edges.

“Go home” Came the soft voice from her doorway. Dave was illuminated by the soft glow of the bullpen, his hair white and almost angelic.

“Jesus Dave, you go home, Krystal is going to murder you” She replied, standing up from her desk to reprimand him lightly.

“I’m leaving now” He protested, lifting his briefcase “Taking you with me, come on, grab your stuff”

Emily let out a groan as she stretched her shoulders, tight and stiff under her suit jacket. She nodded, grabbing her own briefcase as she followed him to the elevator.

They were silent, soft on the ride down.

“Dave, have you heard from Aaron?” She asked quietly as they reached the garage.

“No” He said softly, a deep sigh under his voice. “I don’t expect to – he’s had enough heartache in his life. You know what he’s like, he couldn’t come back in any way partially, because he’d drown himself in it. The man deserves rest”

Emily nodded, confirmation as she felt the flip in her stomach again.

“Why?”

“No reason, I thought about him today. Realised he never really let on how absolutely _awful_ this job can be sometimes, I hate the look of my signature”

“Try doing a book signing sometime” Dave replied, putting a hand on her shoulder as she stopped at her car.

“Come in later tomorrow” Dave said kindly “You look like you need a good night sleep”

“Thanks Dave, you look like shit too” She said, laughing as she got into her car.

It had been a rough few months for them, Emily felt unmoored by the changes, Penelope leaving felt like a light being extinguished. They had rotated tech analysts since, keeping her office as some kind of shrine, all of them owning a fuzzy tipped pen stored neatly on their desks. She remained on the periphery, Luke bringing words of love and Tupperware boxes filled with home made cookies and muffins at least once a week.

But it wasn’t the same, the bullpen seemed duller without her, the splash of colour they sometimes desperately needed when they voyaged to fight more monsters.

Emily felt old, wearied by the work, and lonely. Andrew hadn’t lasted. She had tried so hard to force it that it had broken in her hands, slipping away like sand. She told herself she was better alone, surrounded by family was enough, even if it meant denying herself love.

She was determined to take Dave’s advice, come into the office late. The stacks of paperwork could just as easily be complete crammed into a squashy armchair in the café as it would be in her office. It was the first really cold day in autumn, the wind threatening frost with every gust, the sky grey and overcast. She found the sickly smell of pumpkin spice almost comforting, the warmth of the room a salve.

Claudia slid the to go cup across the counter before she reached her.

“Actually I’m having here today, staying out of the office for the morning” She said, smiling at the girl.

“Good for you – grab a chair, ill bring it to you”

“No no, you don’t have to…” Emily said, reaching for the takeout

“Nonsense, go sit. Let yourself relax for a change” She smiled.

Emily nodded, sequestering herself in a corner facing the doorway as she began to pull stacks of files from her bag, perching them dangerously on the corner of her armchair.

“Here you go honey” Claudia said, placing delicate porcelain cups and a blueberry muffin in front of her “On the house” She said with a smile.

“Thanks Claud” She said, watching the young girl with a smile.

She started with the thickest files, hoping the rapid diminishment of the pile would make her day seem brighter, somehow force the sunlight through the clouds and give her something to look forward to, tilting her face into its warm light.

She found it easier to work with the noise as backdrop. Kids enjoying hot chocolates, people laughing and clinking mugs as they sat and caught up, the steady tick of laptop keys as college kids penned essays or the next great screenplay.

It tickled her nostrils with the chime of the door. Curled beneath her skin like an intruder. Emily forced herself not to look up, allow herself to be distracted further by the scent of cologne that may as well belong to a ghost. Instead she stilled over the paper, her pen still poised as she froze in place, waiting for it to pass, the rolling in her stomach, anticipation mixed with a hollow grief.

“Aaron! Sweetheart you’re running late today” She heard Claudia cry as she saw the briefest flash of burgundy into her peripheral vision

_‘It’s a common name, it’s a common name’_ she chanted to herself, vicious in her degradation of hope.

“Yeah, Jack took longer to get up this morning than I would have liked.”

Emily stopped breathing. The mahogany richness of his voice, deep and melodious was something she could never have forgotten, not in five years, not even in twenty.

She forced herself to look, allow her eyes to take in his shoes first, then the jeans, dark blue denim. A burgundy cardigan over a simple black t shirt.

He was greying at the temples. Light flakes of grey salted his hair now, and it was longer than she had seen it, flopping gently over his brow. His face was more lined as well, deep creases in his eyes. But he looked, _peaceful,_ a book under his arm and a smile curving his lip as he dropped cash in the tip jar.

“ooh you’ll like this one, I know how you’re a big believer in coincidences.”

“mmm” He said, the disbelief in his tone so familiar it made Emily’s chest ache.

“Remember that regular I mentioned who orders the same thing you do? She’s sitting in your spot” Claudia said, and to Emily’s horror she nodded in her direction.

The only relief was that he seemed to freeze as well. His eyes swept her form as she refocused herself on her paperwork, praying that it wasn’t happening, it wasn’t today, it wasn’t real.

She heard the chink of porcelain before she looked up.

“Hi” He said, and his voice was rich and warm and so close to her she could have wept.

“Where the fuck have you been?” She asked, and she was surprised her voice came as an angry hiss.

He sighed, resigned as she watched him rub at his jaw, a days stubble scraping his fingers.

“I’m sorry” He said, and lifted his palms towards her. A gesture of apology.

She felt her eyebrows raise.

“You’re sorry? The mess you left me in and you’re _sorry?!_ ” Her voice was higher than she would have liked, betraying the emotion she was trying desperately to keep caged in her chest.

“Scratch…” He started

“Scratch has been dead for years. Do you know what we’ve been through? _Linda fucking Barnes_ for chrissakes Aaron”

“You blew up the plane” he said softly, his mouth twitching into a half formed smile.

“JJ blew up the plane” She corrected, folding her arms tighter against her body.

He nodded, his eyes searching her face. His expression was hungry and soft at once, curving across her features like she was a delicate piece of artwork.

“So. Where have you been” She said finally, watching as he slid a coffee towards her.

“Paris” He answered and that was enough to get her attention. Forgetting her anger for the moment she turned to him.

“Why Paris?”

“A friend told me it was a good place to hide” He said, grabbing his own cup and settling his notebook over her stack of files.

She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you anything”

“I know. And I’m sorry, really, I didn’t have a chance to talk…”

“No Aaron, _I didn’t._ all I had a chance to do was shove my gun and badge in my desk drawer. You had weeks.”

He winced.

“You’re right. And I have no excuse, especially after Scratch died. But Jack was _safe._ Properly safe, for the first time since Foyet… and that was worth more to me than anything. So we stayed in Paris. He went to school, and learned French, and played soccer and was a kid. Properly a kid for the first time in his life.”

Emily sighed, watching as the pain flitted across his face again.

“You could have called Aaron.” She said, softly.

“I know. And I would have, but I didn’t know what to say. After everything… Emily what could I say”

“Hello?” She offered, turning to face him. “It’s not like we didn’t spend enough nights on the phone Aaron.”

The wave rolled through her stomach again. Butterflies that’s wings were tired were suddenly invigorated by the memory. She had called the first time after Foyet’s attack. Dropping him home and wanting to check on him, perfunctory, caring. It had morphed into later calls, conversations that threaded together like woven tapestry. It was a different medium, a way for them to communicate without the others astute profilers gaze. It allowed them to lie to the other, tell half truths and sit with them comfortably. After Hayley died he called her, away on a case, because he needed to hear a friendly voice. It was so raw and honest and vulnerable Emily wanted to fly back. But instead she talked, told him stories of running away from embassy parties in her youth until he fell asleep.

It was a secret, not discussed, not inferred in any sense. But something Emily carried with her, warm, like a stone in her palm, that he _knew_ her. That she in turn _knew_ him. The raw underbelly of each of them, soft and exposed for the other, mutually assured destruction.

When she decided to leave for London she took the best parts of them with her. Derek’s humour and Rossi’s paternalism, Reid’s thirst for knowledge and Penelope’s penchant for optimism. From JJ she took friendship, a willingness to allow herself to be open to new relationships, that those would not hurt her if she allowed them in.

But she never left Aaron. Time difference aside, she would call at the end of a long day. Finding him equally sequestered in a similar office, both of them silently humming over paperwork, casual sentences and spelling requests tossed like pebbles through a phone line.

They came close after JJ. Fear and the unknown together made for a powerful attraction, and when she stumbled towards her taxi he had caught her by the wrist, pulled her into him to steady her. It was there the cologne had taken root so deep in her psyche she still felt her eyes snap to its source, years beyond its initial imprint. She had felt his fingers close around her, firm and determined. A car horns honk had pulled them apart, breath close enough to touch the others cheek, a moment frozen in time.

But he hadn’t called. Instead he had thrust the responsibility upon her, knowing she would take it. Knowing that the only thing she could not stand was seeing this family they had built in pieces. So she had picked them up when he couldn’t, carefully smoothed their jagged edges, put them back together under her embrace.

But he was here now, sitting across from her, his fingers so close if she wanted she could reach out and take them.

“Why are you back” She asked finally, her voice aching.

“Hayley’s father died” He said shortly, tugging lightly at the sleeve of his cardigan. She noticed now it was slightly too big for him, it slouched over his shoulders, engulfed him like a cocoon, loose threads at the pockets. It looked old.

“I’m sorry” she said, automatically as he shook his head.

“And Jack wanted to come home. He started high school this year and he wanted to be with Jessica as well as me. She raised him as much as I did, it wasn’t fair to refuse him”

“Which high school is he in?”

“Academy” He said, giving her a pointed look.

“Should have guessed” She said. It was an elite private school, accepting only the best of academic merit, most students went on to Ivy League, and they boasted alumnus from presidents to Olympians to Chess masters. “You must be proud”

“I’d be prouder if I could get him to put his washing in the hamper” he said, settling lightly into the chair across from her.

Emily laughed, the grumble so endearing and known to her she felt her heart beat faster in her chest.

“Where did you get that cardigan” She asked, reaching to pluck at a loose thread on the sleeve.

“Garcia.” He said, confirming her suspicions. “She knitted it for me for Christmas years ago”

It was then Emily knew he hadn’t really left, that the pieces and the memories of the family they had were still cast in amber somewhere in him, held close like a precious stone. She couldn’t help but soften, smile at his presence here, inexplicable but somehow correct, like they were always waiting to meet here, on this day.

“I missed you” he said softly, watching as her smile faded gently, a sunset across her features.

When she opened her mouth to respond the ringing of her phone caused the reply to die in her throat.

“Shit. Sorry” She said, turning her head to answer it. She listened to Rossi on the other end, brief details of a case that required her immediate attention, their immediate deployment. “Okay, I’ll be there in ten” She said, hanging up and turning back to him.

He had folded her files back together, stacked them neatly in a pile ready to be shoved into the bag they appeared from.

“Go.” He said softly “I remember, go”

She nodded, swallowing her coffee, now stone cold as she stood to leave.

“I’m here everyday” He said quietly as she walked past him to leave. Emily knew she would be too.

Claudia watched them for months. It became a hobby, a small game amongst their co-workers. Would they talk today? Would they laugh, or would they sit in silence, sombre moodiness that seemed to envelop them in its embrace. They would place dollar bets on which of them would laugh first on any given day, who would leave first and how long Aaron would watch the door after she left. They sometimes just missed each other, Emily running out the door with a phone pressed to her ear, yelling something indistinguishable at someone named Anderson. When she would relay the story to Aaron he would laugh. There were heated discussions, bets placed on whether they would ever give in.

She surmised that they had been co-workers at one point, but she knew Aaron was retired. He frequented the café as someone with only too much leisure time could. She knew they were in the FBI, that they worked in the justice building but as yet she could not figure out more than that.

She knew they more than liked each other. She saw the way they stilled when they bumped knees, brushed fingers. She saw the way they looked at the other when their gaze was elsewhere. She wondered if they would ever realise it themselves.

Claudia took it upon herself to force their hand, shoving the furniture closer together in incremental margins each day she worked. Emily and Aaron were some of her nicest customers, good tippers and always polite. She thought they deserved some help.

When it happened she almost missed it. The mid morning rush was running her off her feet. She was clearing tables when she glanced outside, seeing them walking together in the snow.

Emily slipped, a patch of ice on the sidewalk causing her to pitch forwards, lose her balance. Aaron grabbed her wrist with reflexes so fast they almost seemed instant. He pulled her so firmly into his grip, his arms automatic as they wrapped around her, held her steady against his chest.

You couldn’t tell from a distance who kissed who, only that their bodies seemed to move in tandem, a dance long forgotten. When they broke apart Emily was blushing, Aaron smiling, as he slipped his hand into hers, interlacing their fingers.

“Miss, could I get another latte?” The voice broke the spell for Claudia, bringing her back to the noise of the shop, the cloying smell of pumpkin spice that gave her a headache every day.

“Sure, no problem” She answered, smiling as she walked behind the counter, heart swelling with joy, eager to collect her winnings from each co-worker who doubted her.


End file.
